68.3k words || modern setting (sports, Olympics)/fusion AU (inspired by Yuuri On Ice) || teen & up audiences.
Relationships: Keith/Shiro.
Minor/Background Ships: Sendak/Shiro (an abusive garbage fire). past Adam/Lotor/Shiro, past Keith/OMC (one NPC college boyfriend who cheats on him), past Shiro/OMCs (one friend with benefits, and one guy who mistreated Shiro when he was 15-16); Adam/Lance/Lotor (endgame for them); Hunk/Romelle; Allura/Zethrid; James/Kinkade; Iverson/OMC husband Bennett; and Thace/Ulaz.
Additional Tags: Gay Disaster Shiro, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Keith was Raised by the Blade of Marmora, Iverson is Shiro's Godfather, Chubby Keith (it’s mostly slight & inspired by YOI but it’s there), Anxiety (Keith & Shiro both deal with it throughout). Abusive Sendak (karma comes for him in the end though). Drunk Driving & Loss of Limbs (both of these things are in chapter 8. the loss of limb is mostly off-screen but the drunk driving is NOT). Drunken Confessions & Drunken Kissing (in ch. 10, accompanied by a drunken pole-dance).
Takashi Shirogane never meant to establish himself as a figure skating god; he only wanted to do what he loves and skate. He also didn’t intend to fall for Keith Kogane, a younger skater who’d be an absolute prodigy, if he could focus better and truly channel his passion into his skating. Shiro definitely didn’t plan on becoming a coach barely two years after losing his right arm in the accident that his monster ex-boyfriend got them into.
On the other hand, though, Keith never meant to become Shiro’s friend, much less anything else, and he perpetually struggles to believe that Shiro wants literally anything to do with him. Why should Shiro want Keith in his life? He’s just a kid from Marmora who happens to skate half-decently. There is absolutely no way that carrying this torch for Shiro ends remotely well for Keith and if he were half as intelligent as his Mom likes to pretend he is, Keith would break things off before they go too far. That’s the best life-choice Keith has available to him.
(Un)Fortunately, neither Keith nor Shiro has much capacity for making good life-choices.
Written for @perfectlyrose in the Shiro’s birthday 2019 round of the @vldexchange (and I’m so, so sorry for how late this is going up)! ♡♡♡
